Apparatus for making wire-glass.



C. J. JUNGBRS.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE GLASS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 190s.

1,064,146. Patented June 10,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. J. JUNGERS.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE GLASS.

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1909.

1,064,146, Patented June 10,1913.

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CLEMENT J'. JUNGERS, OF STREATOR, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING WIRE-GLASS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed May 27, 1909, Serial No. 498,647. Divided and this application led September 2.4, 1909. Serial No. 519,406.

To all whom, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLEMENT J. JUNGERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at b`treat-or, in the county of Lasalle and State of Illinois, have invented a cert-ain new and Improved Apparatus for Making Wire- Glass, of which the following is a specification, this application being filed as a division of a previously filed application on which Patent No. 938,385 was issued October 26, 1909.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for making wire glass, and it has for its salient objects to provide an apparatus by. the use of which sheets of glass may be formed of very perfect uniformity of thickness throughout, despite the distorting actionof the heat of the glass being acted upon; to provide an apparatus adapted for making Wire glass, so constructed and organized that the insetting or embedding of the wire will be accomplished without contaminating the sheet of glass, and especially without introducing air or gas which remains in the glass and formsbubbles; to provide an apparatus so organized and constructed as to provide a most etlicient control and guidance of the wire netting during its introduction to the sheet of glass, whereby the netting is placed in a very accurately disposed undeviating plane; to pro vide an apparatus by means of which the wire is inserted through one side of a layer of glass with a minimum disturbance and distortion of the glass, thus minimizing'the internal stresses remaining in the glass as a result of the insetting operation; to provide an apparatus by means of which the wire is not only eliciently inset but the cuts formed as an incident of the insertion are subsequently smoothed out and substantially obliterated in such manner as to produce a brilliant and extremely smooth and even surface upon this side of the sheet; to provide an apparatus in which a main smoothing roll operating to chiefly restore the integrity of the partially divided sheet is followed by o-ne or more riding finishing rollers which complete the smoothing operation and leave the glass both uniform and brilliant; to provide an apparatus in which the flanges of the inset-ting roller are given a peculiar shape in cross section which facilitates the self-healing of the cuts formed by said flanges; to provide an apparatus in which the insetting flanges are of varying diameter and arranged in such manner as to insure the insertion of the sheet of netting to a uniform depth; to provide an apparatus which may be readily adjusted or modified to make relatively thin plate wire lass, such as is used without polishing, or t e thicker grades, which are intended for polishing; to provide an apparatus so organized and constructed as to facilitate the uniform pouring of the molten glass across the full width of the bed; and, in general,- to provide an improved apparatus of the character referred to.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended cla1ms.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanyin drawings forming a part thereof, and 1n which is illustrated suitable and novel apparatus for carrying out the process.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a longi-4 tudinal vertical sectional view of the casting bed, the forming rolls and feeding devices of an apparatus adapted to carry out the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, the pot, however', being removed; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an axial sectional view of one of the forming rolls and a cross-sectional view of the casting bed beneath the roll, intended to show the relation between these two parts and the concavity of the roll exaggerated; Fig. 5 is an axial sectional view of the embedding roll; Fig. 6 is a detail, partly in axial section and partly in side elevation, of the roll shown in Fig. 5, but on a larger scale.

Theapparatus of my present invention is intended chiefly for use in carrying out a process of making single-pour, c'. e., single layer, wire glass, as distinguished from the so-called sandwich glass in which the sheet is composed of two layers, and, in a general way, the apparatus of this invention resembles that shown and described in the Shuman Patent No. 483,021.

It is Well understood in this art that wire glass made in accordance with any of the single-pour or solid layer processes heretofore known has not been suitable for polishing. Among the difficulties which have prevented thesuccessfuhmaking of polishable and other high grades of wire glass bythe single-pourprocesses are the following: the distortion of the wire mesh and uneven placing of it in the finished product; the scarring of the surface during the introduction Of the wire and failure of the .following or lfinishing roll to eliminate these scars; the abnormal chilling and hardening of the surfaceiof the glass, rendering it very -diiicult, if not impossible, to cut; the roughness or unevcnness due to uneven placing of the wire, appearing upon the surface of the glass, this defect being so pronounced that the glass, as stated in said patent above referred to, has become known as caramel glass; the presence of a serious amount of bubbles in the finished product; the presence of streaks visible inthe body of the glass in the nished product; the limitation as to the' size" of sheets which it was practicable to make under the old single-pour processes; the vesence of small cracks, crizzles, or lire chec and an undulatory or uneven placing-of the wire mesh in the finished' product, leaving parts of the wire so close to onesurface or the other that polishing was impracticable.

I have discovered that there have been at least two distinct and important reasons for 4the defective character of the so-called single-pour process glass heretofore produced. In the first place the wire mesh which is employed is a com aratively loosely woven-fabrlc, Woven in di ere`nt widths and so used for the dierent widths of glass.

The fabric has considerable elasticity and inevitably stretches under the action of embedding 1t in the glass, but t-he edges of the fabric are decidedly less elastic than the central portions. Heretofore in the carryingl out of the single-pour processes there has been no proper or suficlent control of the feeding in of the wire netting, and as a result the wire netting has not been, even initially, placed in a substantially undeviating plane at a uniform depth from the surface of the glass. Secondly, it has always been believed essential to follow the embedding. roller with a smoothing roller arranged to re-roll the sheet of glass with a.

view of closing and smoothing out the openings oricnts formed by the embedding flanges and by `meshes of thewire. Such re-rolling is 'in itself necessarily an improper step, though I have discovered that it may sometimes be dispensed with, but as heretofore performed it has been so carried out as to make the production of good wire glass impossible. That is tovsay, I have discovered how to subject the sheet of glass after the wire has been inset to a rolling-pressing Step without harmful eHect upon the sheet;`

'in the bottom surface of the glass;

whereas, as will hereinafter be more fully pointed out, this smoothing step has heretofore been so performed that-it practically re-formedl the sheet, and in so doing displaced and usually more or less distorted the netting. By the use of the apparatus herein described these difficulties are obviated.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 designates a casting bed or table, which is preferably water cooled, and which bed may be either stationary, with the roll or rolls arranged to traverse the bed, or itself arranged to travel beneath the rolls; the rolls belng held in suitable stationary supports and bearings. In the preferred embodiment the rolls are stationary, i. e., they have no bodily movement of translation, while the bed reciprocates.

2 designates the combined spreading and embedding roll, which is supported at such height above the bed of the table as to spread the glass out into a sheet 3 of substantially the same thickness it will have as a finished product. Said roll 2 is shown as arranged to travel on trangs 4 and is thereby supported above the table at a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the inlshed sheet.

As shown more particularly in Figs. 5 and 6, therol1 2 is provided with circumferential embedding flanges, the embedding fianges of the preferred construction shown being formed as disks 6, which are dtachy ably mounted upon an internal roll body vor core 7 and spaced apart at regular distances by means of removable collars 8, the outer peripheral surfaces of which constitute spreading surfaces which form the top surface ofthe sheet. These disks 6 and the spacing collars 8 are either formed of some dense fine-grained metal, such as steel or fine iron, or else, if formed of coarser metal, may be plated with nickel or other suitable metal, which will afford a smooth, dense,

surface upon the acting edges of the disks, and preferably also upon the spreading surfaces of the roller. Furthermore, in the most eiicient construction shown, the edges of these disks are beveled practically all at one side, as indicated at 9, while the opposed side 10 of each disk is perpendicular to the axis of the roll; the edge proper l1 being moderately sharp but still suliciently rounded so as'not to dent or disfigure the wire mesh. If the embedding or insetting of the wire be performed by the leading or spreading roll, it is essential that the radial depth of these flanges be determined byv and made to conform to the thickness of the glass whichfis to be rolled. 4In other Word'sfe'ach dierent thickness of glass requires a differ'- ent radlal Bange depth.- Furthermore, itis important that these anges *be Vproperly spaced apart, so that there ifs on the one hand `ample-space between the flanges to permit yare ythe better, provided contact wlth the glass Ito fully 4enter and pass through the spaces without any substantial tendency to cling to the rear side of the roller as the latter revolves,or to accumulate and push ahead of the roll. On the other hand, the flanges must be insert the wire without leaving `it in undulations. So 'far as the action of the flanges upon the'glass they do not'cut or indent the wire, but, on the other hand, :it

lmustbe taken -intoaccount that the flanges must have substantial thickness or mass in order ithatithey shall not become overheated during their progress through the glass, because' whenever the metal becomes overheated the glass sticks to it, and this results in the sheet beingdrawn up wave fashion in rear of the embedding roll. I have found in practice that flanges of one-eighth 'inch thickness at the base give good results and I prefer to space them about one-half inch apart for thin glass, and about double this distance apart lfor half inch or heavy glass. The importance of using embedding flanges having suitable dense and smooth' surfaces is `a matter which has heretofore not been appreciated or understood. I have discovered that the streaks defining the paths of the embedding flanges in the finished vglass are .usually entirely due to the use of improper flanges. Of course, if the flanges are ynot kept scrupulously clean they will produce streaks regardless of their quality. But, assuming the embedding flanges to be clean, still in the art as heretofore practised the paths of -the flanges have been clearly visible in the finished glass and this'hasbeen due tothe fact that the pores of the metal held occluded gas which was deposited or left in the molten glass and expanded into minute bubbles, many of which are microscopically small, producing milk-like streaks, in which there may usually be discerned bubbles of larger size. I have demonstrated, however, that if a very dense smooth metal be used for these embedding flanges, or for surfacing the same, then `this difficulty is wholly eliminated.

An important and essential feature of the invention resides in maintaining a reliable and controlled feeding-in of the wire mesh. As shown-more clearly in the drawing, the wire mesh 9 is fed in in advance of the embedding roll, and I have found that it is important lthat the wire be kept in close, firm contact with the edges of the embedding flanges from a point where the wire encounters the ball or pour of glass, around to the point where the flanges, leave it properly placed. To secure this maintained and close the flanges the wire must be kept under accurate control and not allowed to descend loosely. Furthermore, it is important that the wire be kept laterally .of the wire, I have spaced sufficiently close `to` -table-like chute 12,

is concerned, the thinner they laid in suitable lengths, to and through a spread out in a straight line across its full width, and preferably kept taut under more or liess tension. To accomplish this control devised special feeding devices which I will now describe. The wire is arranged to pass from any suitable sourceof supply, as, for example, from a whereon it is initially pair of tension Vrollers .13, 14, thence past and inperipheral contact `with a stretchingout roll 15 of special construction `which operates to distend the wire laterally with a gentle or slight'but continuous tension, and thence beneath the main roll. The tension rolls 13 and 14 may have smooth, cylindric, peripheries, and they are journaled parallel with each other; the lower roll being mounted in substantially fixed Alower journals r16 and the upper roll having its trunnions 17 confined in forks 18 which are of such depth as to let the periphery of the roll ride with its full weight upon the lower roll. It `follows that when the wire is passed| between these rolls the weight of the upper one produces a tensionnpon the wire, andthistension (which .need not be great) may be increased if desired by placing added weights or springs upon the extendedtru'nnions of the upper roll.

.The stretching roll is journaled in fixed journals, as indicated at 19, and its peri ery is yformedinto two oppositely itc ed prominent screw-threaded or spiraly corrugated portions,.as 20, 20', each of which covers half the .length of the roll, so that the two meet at the center of the latter. The wire in being drawn past this stretching roll rotates the latter, andthe direction of pitch of the two threaded portions is such as to effect a spreading action upon the wire and stretchit from edge to edge. It willbe noted' that the location .of the s readin roll is such .with reference to the ont si e of the main roll that the wire is held in contact with the latterto a point above thatreached by the ball of glass. Furthermore, the lateral spreading tension will be toan extent controlled and effected by the longitudinal tension.

Another feature of the apparatus which contributes to the reliability and success thereof is the provision of means'whereby the pouring or dumpin of the glass upon the table may be gra ual and continued throughout the chief part of the spreading operation,.thereby enabling the lad eman to keep a relatively small but sufficient quantity of glass in front of the roll at all times during the forming of the sheet. For this purpose a pair of supporting bars 21, 22, are mounted parallel with, and in advance of, the main roll in such position that they together form a cradle-like support upon which the ladle 23 may be rested and slid back and forth while pouring. The use of this kind of a support with a ladle enables the workman to continue the pouring as long as desired, and to distribute the .pour very evenly across the entire width necessary to form the sheet; this being accomplished by sliding the ladle back and forth while in its pouring position.

There are several advantages inherent to this way of pouring, among which may be mentioned that the wire mesh passes through the glass for a comparatively short distance only before it is permanently placed in position; the pour of glass encounters but a relatively small portion of the periphery of the roll, and is therefore less rapidly cooled and, what is perhaps more important, is tumbled or rolled less during the spreading operation; the pour may be larger than could be well accommodated bydumping the entire ladleful at once; the leading roll is not in contact "with so large a mass of molten glass at any time and consequently is not heated to thesame degree, and the workman is able to perform his work of pouringfmuch more accurately and easily than is the case where the ladle is supported during the emptying of the same by sheer stfength.

I have discovered that one of the most important reasons for failing to successfully make high quality wire glass in accordance with the prior art single-pour processes was due to the use of such methods and apparatus as resulted in re-rolling and partly redistributing the constituent parts of the sheet, after it had been rst spread. A prime reason for failure of success heretofore has been, I think, due to the failure to take into account the fact that as soon as the pour of glass is dumped upon the table, and especially when it has been' spread out across the table, the casting bed expands as to its upper surface under'the action of the heat and assumes a distinctly crowning shape in transverse section. This crowning commences as soon as the glass is dumped but increases materially during the progress of` the sheet. If, as has a straight cythe formation of heretofore been customary,

lindric roll be used to roll out and smooth the sheet it will, of course, beobvious that the sheet will he made thinner at the middle than at the edges thereof to the extent that the periphery of the roll and the bed of the table have been thrown out of parallelism by the expansive effect described. Inasmuch as the spreading roll passes over the bed of the table as fast as the'ball of glass is spread, and --is usually started very promptly after the pour has commenced, it follows that the crowning of the table beneath this roll is less than is the case with any roll or rolls which traverse the sheet after it has been spread. l It is, however, appreciable even under the spreading roll, and if glass is to be mcafee made of uniform thickness from edge to edge it is necessary that the ro-ll be correspondingly concave. Accordingly I prefer to make the combined spreading and embedding roll concave both as to its main body between the flanges and as to the edges of the flanges themselves. In practice I have found from three to five thirty-seconds of an inch smaller diameter at the center of the roll than at the acting ends thereof to be suitable; When I use a smoothing roll, as, for example, as indicated at 24m the drawings, this roll is made in conformity with the usual practice, except that it is made concave in axial section 'to an extent sutlicient to compensate for the crowning of the table under the action of the spread-out sheet of glass. In practice I have foundthat frome four thirty-seconds to six thirty-seconds of an inch smaller diameter at the center than at either end is suitable; assuming that the machine is of a size for making sheets ofv glass up to fifty inches in width. The smoothing roll 24 is mounted upon trangs or collars, the sameas the leading roll,- and it is important that its periphery-be supported at a distance from the bed of the table almost or just equal to the mean thickness of the sheet of glass, so that it will press the surface of the glass and uniform the same Without substantially disturbing the preformed mass of the sheet. Moreover, it 1s important that both the spreading and embedding operation, and the subsequent rolling-pressing operation (if the latter be employed) be performed in such manner as to avoid to the greatest practical eX- tent any drawing, pulling or pushing effect upon the surface of the sheet. This means that the peripheral speed of these rollers must be adjusted with considerable nicety. If either of thesey rolls has a peripheral speed greater than the speed at which the bed is passing beneath it, lrelatively speaking, then the roll tends to draw through the roll-pass two muchl glass, thus producing a surplus of glass and wave-like effect in rear 0f the r'oll, while on the contraryfif the roll be rotating at a peripheral speed which is too slow as compared with the onward movement of the table, it will produce a dragging effect upon the surface of the sheet, which will not only make the latter uneven, but, if severe enough, will show its effect in transverse cracks through the skin of the to'p surface. Moreover, the effect-s of improper peripheral speed iny the CaSev of the embedding roll, in addition toa tendency to displace the glass, also ,tends to buckle the wire netting in case the roll is rotated too tfast,or to distort the mesh-es, softened by the heat of the glass, and stretch them out in case the roll is rotated. too slowly. To obviate these objections I noeame provide racks 25 along each side of the bed, and upon each of the several rolls provide gears fixed upon the rolls and which inter- 1 mesh with these racks.

In the drawings, 26 and 27 designate the gears of the'leading and smoothing roll, respectively. I prefer to provide a series of gears, lgraded in size for each of the several rolls,'substituting one pair for another in adjusting each roll until 1 get the correct peripheral speed. The means of adjusting the rack vertically, shown in the presentxinstance, comprises tap bolts 28 threaded vertically through the bed frame and engaging the under sides of the racks.

To impart a still greater degree of smo-othness to the glass', I sometimes employ one or more relatively light riding or floating rolls, as 29 and 30; these rolls being sup ported in journal forks or slots 31 and 32, in such manner that the Weight of therolls rests wholly upon the surface of the glass. The peripheries of these rolls are made concave to a degree accurately conforming to theV concavity ofthe smoothing roll 24, so that the Weight of the rolls will be distrib uted with approximate uniformity throughv out the full Width of the sheet. T bese rolls need not be cont-rolled as to their peripheral speed, since the sheet has sufficient firmness to rotate them Without distorting the surface.

The operation of the apparatus has been largely indicated in connection with the foregoing description, but may be briefly recapitulated as follows: A sheet of Wire netting having been properly adpisted in the feeding apparatus and carried down 1n front of the leading roll, a pour of glass is dumped in front of said roll and the table started. As the table travels beneath the rolls` the leading roll spreads and forms a sheet, the flanges at the sameftime forcing the wire into the sheet to a depth approximately one-half its thickness. The Wire netting as it is fed through the tension rolls is held taut longitudinally and is thus drawn into firm bearing with the spirally corrugated stretching-out roll, which revolving under the action of the netting drawn past it, produces a stretching-out action upon the wire, thus holding 1t taut laterally. Obviously, .this holding of the netting taut both laterally and longitudinally is a material factor in insuring that the wire shall enter the sheet of glass and be placed therein in a substantially undeviating plane, uniformly distant from the surface through which it is inserted.

The pour of glass dumped upon the table causes the latter to ex and as to its upper surface and the table ecomes crowning or convex as to its heated portion. This coni Vvexity is compensated for by the concavity of the leading roll and variation in diameter l of the embeddingflanges. As the glass is spread out and progresses relatively along the table, the crowning effect likewise -progresses. The spread sheet with the .netting embedded therein emerges behind the leading roll and passes under the smoothing roller, the concavity of which compensates for' the convexity of the table, and therefore the surface of this smoothing roller acts uniformly across the full width of-the sheet, and if properly adjusted closes and nearly obliterates the cuts produced by the flanges and by the meshes of the wire. Careimust be exercised in adjusting the smoothing roll so that its periphery `is spaced above the table a distance which very closely approxi-- mates the mean thickness of the shect'of glass, since if the smoothing roll be `set closer to the table accumulation of glass in front of this roll and a respreading action is inevitable, While, on the otherhand, if the roll be too high, the smoothing-mitfac tion will not be as complete as it should be.

In case it be desired to produce glass having an almost perfectly smooth and uniform surface I employ the riding rolls described and these follow the smoothing roll. These riding rolls are of such convexity that they accurately conform `to the surface of the sheet of glass as it leaves the smoothing. roll and the glass has now become sufficiently cooled to momentarily support each riding finishing roller and to yield under the latter only so much as will result in smoothing out the remaining unevenness.

By the use of this apparatus I am. able to produce a quality of glass which issecond to none heretofore made by the best sandwich processes.

I am entirely familiar with the patent to Ryon, No. 531,570, and also with the apparatus as practically constructed and operated Jinder that patent, butI they in no sense anticipate the features herein contained, or any of them The embedding flanges or disks of said Ryon apparatus were made relatively thick and blunt at their edges'to avoid or minimize bending of the netting which was fed in without maintained control. Moreover, they were formed of ordinary cast iron, neither dense nor smooth, and in use produced the bubble streaks which I obviate.

I claimt- 1. In a Wire glass rolling apparatus, the combination of a casting bed, means for spreading a sheet of glassand introducing a sheet of metallic netting thereto, and a roll copcrating with said bed to roll-press the glass after the wire has been introduced, one of said latter elements being made normally concave as to its sheet-forming surface to compensate for the expansion of the metal under the action of the hot glass and to effectively roll-press the surface of the sheet throughout its full width without eiiecting a redistribution of the mass of the body of the sheet.

2. ln a Wire lass-rolling apparatus, the combination wit a casting table, of a combined sheet-spreading 'and embedding roll, provided with circumferential parallel flanges of succeeding smaller diameter from.

each end of the roll toward the center thereof, so that the periphery of the roll, as defined by the'peripheries of the anges, is concave.

8. ln a Wire glass rolling apparatus, the combination with' means for spreading and forming a sheet of glass and introducing a sheet of wire netting thereto, said means comprising an embedding roll provided with embedding iianges, the peripheries ci which deline a cylinder slightly concave in axial section, of a coperating vsmoothing roll, having a similarly concaved periphery.

4. ln a wire glass rolling apparatus, the combination with 'a casting table and means for spreading and forming a sheet ci glass thereon and introducing a sheet of wire netting thereto, oi an embedding roll 'provided with embedding Hanges and having its periphery as delined by the peripheries o said ianges made slightly concave in axial section, a coperating smoothing roll likewise having a concave periphery, and a riding roll having a concave periphery of substantially the saine degreevof concavity as that of said smoothing roll.

5. ln a glass-rolling apparatus, the combination with a spreading roll and an opposed coperating sheet-forming member, of a supporting frame extending alongside ci but spaced away from the front ef said forming roll and constituting a ladle-support upon which the ladle may be shifted back and forth while pouring.

6. ln a glass-rolling apparatus, the cornbi'nation with a spreading roll and an cppcsed cooperating Sheetdbrinmg member, ci a supporting frame extending alongside of but spaced away from the liront ci" said noeaiee A.forming rlll, consisting of a pair of parallel bars spaced apart and elevated above the roll-pass, and constituting a ladle-support upon which the ladle may be shifted back and forth' while pouring.

7. ln a wire glass rolling apparatus, the combination with the 4sheet-forming elements, of a wire-feeding apparatus comprising tensicn devices thro-ugh which the web passes on its way 'to the roll-pass, and a stretching-out member interposed between the tension devices and roll-pass, said member having oppo-sitely-pitched obliquely disposed sliarp-ribbed surfaces at each side of its longitudinal center, across which the web of wire is drawn.

8. ln a Wire glass rolling apparatus, the combination with the sheet-forming elements, oit a wire-feeding apparatus comprising tension devices through which the web passes on its way to the roll-pass, and a spreading roll interposed between the tension devices and roll-pass and with the periphery ci lwhich the web ci wire contacts, said spreading rcll havin a two-part spirally ribbed surface, the ribs of opposite ends of 'the roll being of opposite pitch.

v9. ln a wire glass rolling apparatus, an embedding roll provided with embedding angescf wedge-shaped form in radial section, one sideoi the Harige being substantially perpendicular to the periphery of the roll and theepposite side having all of the' inclination which forms the bevel.

10. in' a wire glass rolling apparatus, an einbedding roll provided with embedding anges ci wedge-shaped iorrn in radial section, ene

side of the ange being substantially per` eripliery ci the roll and pendicular to the the opposite side aving all oi the inclination which forms the bevel, the acting surfaces of said flanges being of metal practically ncnabscrbent of :tree air and smooth surfaced.

CLEMENT d. JUNGERS. Witnesses:

Arianna il. Gaarne, E. irl. Famine. 

